Transformers: Battle of the Creators
by Carchee
Summary: A young woman has found them, the Autobots. Optimus Prime is back and must defeat Galvatron before the Creators find him on Earth.
1. Chapter 1

So! This is my first fanfic. I've read a few and I think I attempted to write a couple back in '06 or '05, but I can never keep momentum. For some reason, this story has been bugging at my brain since I had this weird Transformers dream. So, here it is. I apologize if I'm not following any unwritten rules and would appreciate it if you would let me know what they are. (If you hadn't guessed, this is an update because I realized that most people had disclaimers and I totally spaced that.) I have had a fanfiction account for forever (I have the vaguest memory of setting it up) and have never really used it. I'm going to try writing longer chapters (this one is hella short) but I get writers block after only 10 minutes, so they might be shorter (but there will be more because I do have a whole plot set up.) So, here I go!

Also, note for the story line: this is set after Age of Extinction. I only recently saw the movie (shameful of me to wait so long) and the ending was so open! I couldn't help but constantly think of what's next for the autobots. I don't plan on using any of the human characters from the movies, but that could change.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transfomers or any of their characters. I do claim ownership of any other characters that I create. The character of Blaster is not based on any other characters of the same name. (It's hard to name autobots and this name wasn't used in any of the live-action films, so I'm keeping it.)

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><p>The burning sunlight sliced through her cheap cotton shirt. She felt the sting of fabric on scorched skin. It was only 11am and already too warm for the crisp mountain air. Going to be a hot one. She continued to climb the dusty trail, trying to ignore the burning in her calves. Almost.<p>

Almost there.

The top of her peak was coming into sight now. Keep pushing.

And...there.

The top.

It wasn't a particularly large height, but it was large enough to give her a grand view of the Mount Ruth.

Stretching out her legs, she snatched her water bottle that had been hanging from her backpack.

After quenching her thirst and feeling the pressure in her legs subside, she settled down.

Listening to the silence. Nothing. No cars. No trucks. No buildings. No phones. No people.

She knew that there were people about 3 miles away from her, but that didn't change the subtle happiness she had for being alone.

She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. The red color of her eyelids made her smile. She missed the sun. There wasn't enough of it back at home.

And then, she heard it. A small noise. So small she almost felt like she imagined it. But it was there.

And again.

The clanking of metal on rock.

She slowly stood, looking around. She had an amazing 360 view of the northern Cascades.

And she saw it. Near the Nooksack Ridge, a small shimmer of sun on metal.

She began descending, coming back the way she came. She pulled out her compass to note which direction to walk in and broke from the trail.

She knew she was being incredibly stupid. She should be sticking to the path and someone should really know where she was.

But her curiosity was too strong. She had to know what was out there.

Down into the valley now, she slowed. The trees were dense and the undergrowth made traveling difficult.

Even though the was sun burning hot and bright, the shadows had taken claim of many of the trees. She felt the creatures still at her presence.

Reality slapped her across the face in the form of a hidden branch.

She should not be here.

She should not be taking off alone in a mountain range she was still quite unfamiliar with.

As she turned to retrace her steps and get back to the trail, a root caught her foot.

She felt a searing pain in her ankle and then, darkness.

* * *

><p>Sounds. Birds chirping. Bugs buzzing by.<p>

Where...

She was awake. Her eyes snapped open. Her hand flew to her head and sure enough, blood.

She quickly sat up only to gasp in pain. Her ankle. Her ankle was bad. It was the size of a goose egg and blue, rapidly turning a darker purple.

Closing her eyes, she quietly began cursing anything that came to mind.

A broken ankle.

Gently she shifted, ignoring the searing pain in her ankle and focusing on her pack.

She managed to shift it off her shoulders and move it to her side.

She dug, through it.

At the bottom was what she was looking for, the first aid kit. Ripping it open, she quickly began unwrapping the gauze.

She paused and slowly began feeling her head for the injury. Above her left temple.

Gritting her teeth she felt for the length of it. Nothing too bad. Needed to be cleaned.

She gently dabbed some of the gauze with water and began patting the injury, tears running from the sting.

Her first aid kit was small and only had one alcohol wipe and a very small tube of neosporin. Taking a deep breath, she gently pressed the wipe to her head.

Not able to contain herself, a screech ripped through her.

Silence.

The birds stopped.

Panic was setting in.

She was completely immobile and she knew it.

Gasping, she quickly smeared neosporin on her head, gritting her teeth against the pain.

Slowly, the birds began their little songs once more.

Pulling the gauze tight, she wrapped her head. The pressure felt uncomfortable, but was a relief from the drip of blood that had been blinding her.

She tried to control her breathing, fighting the distress.

She knew tears were still streaming down her face.

Her ankle was throbbing with pain.

Focusing on her breathing, she was not immediately aware that the birds had stopped singing again.

Until she heard the crack of a branch.

She looked for the sound, realizing more time has passed than she had initially thought. The shadows had lengthened and the air was beginning to cool.

And then she saw it, the shadow that moved.

Fear.

Shaking, she tried to move, only to be stopped by the searing pain in her ankle.

The shadow moved. Closer.

Blood pressure rising.

Panic controlling her flailing arms, reaching for anything to pull herself away.

This was it. She was going to get eaten by something. She knew she was.

Her terror kept rising and quickly crept into her vision as suddenly all the shadows began coming towards her.

And then she was out. Darkness overtook her as her body collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

She opened her eyes to darkness. A cold shiver washed through her veins followed by the heat of fear.

There was no light. There were no sounds. There were only the echos of her heavy breathing reverberating off of a nearby wall.

Flight rapidly drained into fight and her brain was beginning to function again.

She didn't feel like she had been attacked. Her ankle was still broken and her head was still throbbing but she felt nothing else out of the ordinary.

And then the sound. Metal rubbing on rock.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Trying to not let the terror control her.

Taking a deep breath, she called out.

"Hello?"

Silence.

And then, slowly lights began to appear. The cave she was in began to light and she got her first glimpse of who had brought her here.

"T-t-transformers," she whispered in awe and horror.

"We're the good guys," came an answer, broken, as the words were put together.

A quick "hush" stopped any more communication followed by a loud metal ping.

As her eyes adjusted to the lights, she began to make out the shapes of four tall transformers.

One leaned down, shining his lights on her ankle.

"It appears to be an ankle fracture. Or you've been sitting too much- wait no that's for older humans." He pulled back, making a noise of displeasure.

"This internet you had us use, Bumblebee, it is full of miss-information. I'm still a training medic, dammit! I can't know everything about humans if I'm still trying to work with us!"

A noise imitating laughter came from the transformer on the far left. A low rumble came from the right, the one who spoke.

"Now hush you two!" A smaller, older looking transformer bent down towards her.

"I apologize for these two miss. They are too young to be in the presence of a lady." Her heart pounding, she wet her tongue, trying to regain speech.

"I-i thought that all the transformers left."

The smaller, older one shook his head.

"No, ma'am. That was just Optimus. And we expect to hear from him any day now."

Her heart had begun to slow, her mind adjusting. Transformers were a thing you saw on the news, not in real life. They'd been around for almost a decade now, but became quite rare a few years back.

And here she was, chatting with them.

"You're not Deceptions, are you?" Again the noise of laughter filled the cave, this time from more than one.

"Aw hell naw. We're Autobots and damn good ones!"

"Shush, Blaster," the older one said, turning his lights to the younger autobot.

"Now let me introduce you to the others, as they have been so rude as to not introduce themselves. This here is Bumblebee. As I said, I am Crank, and this is Blaster. Our young medical officer here is Glide. We are the team currently awaiting the arrival of Optimus Prime."

"Can it, old man. No one is supposed to know about Optimus coming back," barked Blaster, clearly unhappy with the older autobot.

"Dearest human girl, what is your name?" asked Glide, ignoring him.

"Erica," she said, finally getting a grip on the situation.

"Well, miss Erica, I need to take a quick x-ray of your ankle, so if you could just shut your eyes for me. Blaster, can you cover the rest of her so I don't make her sick? I haven't fully looked into how x-rays respond with humans and I'd rather just get her healed so we can move on."

"Yeah, we're not really in a good hiding spot and we can't really see if Optimus is coming in or not," agreed Blaster, moving into position.

With a quick snapping sound, Glide had an x-ray.

"Yep, fracture. Ok, researching... Yes. I need some sticks and rope. Rope. Not available in natural habitat. Do you have any with you, hun? I need to make some kind of splint until we can get you to other humans."

Erica nodded, looking around for her pack. Bumblebee nudged it closer to her as it was just out of her reach. Digging around, she was able to quickly find her rope.

Tossing it over to Glide, she set her backpack to the side.

Glide got down to his knees to closely assess the ankle.

"Blaster, sticks please. None too big, her ankle is tiny."

With a nod, the giant transformer slipped out of view.

Small robotic hands appeared from Glide's chest armor.

"This will be a more delicate procedure than most I've dealt with. I'm going to try and be as gentle as possible, but you are most likely going to feel pain. I did a quick browse on broken bones and this appears to be something that can be quite painful."

Some sticks landed near Erica's head.

"Sorry! I forget that human's are fragile."

Glide immediately picked them up, not concerned about Blaster's carelessness. Quickly and deftly, he wrapped her ankle. She gasped at the pain, but the immediate pain did not last long as he had her ankle ready in less than a minute.

"You're fast!" she exclaimed, surprised at how quickly he had finished and the pain had subsided to a dull ache.

"Well luckily, I don't have to set any of your bones. That would make this whole situation a bit more difficult."

Crank came closer, inspecting her ankle.

"Well done, young one! Looks as good as the bandages I saw back in the old days of the Great War!"

Erica gazed at Crank.

"Great War?"

"That's right missy. WWII as you probably call it. I'm one of the old guys. Optimus Prime brought me back with his fancy matrix of power thing before the autobots were being hunted. I was in bad shape. They had moved me into an old museum which had been abandoned in the last few years and were probably going to sell me for scraps had Optimus not stepped in. When everyone was getting hunted, I got into another museum and hid there until the big fight in China. Then, Bee here found me. He was trying to round up anyone that had gone into deep hiding and hadn't heard Optimus' message to help aid him. Around that time is when these two landed."

Blaster leaned back on a rock jutting from the wall.

"It's not our fault that we were way off in deep space when we got the message to come to Earth. We had drifted way out there. Only way we made it here at all is by hitching a ride on a comet."

Glide leaned over, inspecting her ankle.

"We landed relatively close to here, and the museum that Crank was in was just a hundred miles south. We quickly connected and came up here to figure out how to get back to Command."

"Glide, quiet," snapped Blaster.

Glide turned, his lights began flashing with red as well as white.

"Listen, you dumbass, this human can't go anywhere. She can't walk. There is no one she can tell. And by the time she has healed, Optimus Prime will be here and he'll know what to do. The best thing to do is not have her surprised by anything odd happening or having to limit what we say around her. We have too much at stake."

Blaster mumbled and shook his head, but otherwise remained silent.

Crank moved closer, shutting off his lights.

"We need to move the girl closer to the outside. We need to monitor the stars and keep her close."

"Agreed." Glide slowly moved his giant mechanical arm closer to her head.

"Oh! I didn't even see the bandaging on your head. Once we get you outside, I'll take a look at it."

Gently, he lifted her, being careful not to hurt her bad foot. She gasped. The pain from moving was intense.

He paused, "I didn't bump you, did I?"

"No, no. It just hurts to move it. That won't change."

Nodding, we continued to move her towards the front of the cave.

He set her down right at the entrance so she would still be protected from any rain.

"Now is there anything you need? Bee and Blaster are going to go out to the peaks to look for Optimus Prime and I'm not sure how well Crank can see in the dark."

"Hush now youngin, I can see perfectly fine!" Snapped the old transformer.

Bee shook his head as he took off towards Ruth Mountain. Blaster quickly followed suit, his laughter echoing off the dark valley walls.

Erica watched them leave, their lights disappearing into the night.

"So Erica, I think you need some sleep. Is there anything else you need?"

"Water? And...well...I'm going to need some sort of crutch because there are some things I'll need some privacy for."

"R-right. Well! Crank, you old dodger, do you think you could find her a tree branch that would fit her needs? I can size it down for her once I have it."

Grumbling, Crank took off towards the tree line.

"Meanwhile, I'll go grab your pack. Be right back."

And she was alone. With no lights blinding her, the stars slowly came into view. The milky way looked amazing over the dark shadow of the peak. She sighed, relaxing.

Her eyelids started to get heavy as one star in the sky began to twinkle brighter than the rest.

She fell asleep just as the earth shook.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm going to try and get the hang of this. Please let me know if I'm doing something wrong. This is very new territory for me and I want to be respectful. Thanks!

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><p>Her eyes flew open.<p>

Avalanche?

No, it's August.

Earthquake?

Possibly.

But the noise! And there was a bright light reflecting off the mountain.

Glide was at her side instantly.

"Optimus."

Erica began to shake. Optimus Prime. The head Autobot. The main guy. She had barely felt comfortable with the concept of dealing with any transformer, let alone the leader.

"I'm heading over there, be right back," called Crank. Her crutches would have to wait.

The moonlight lit enough for her to see the trees move as they approached.

A Camaro sped from the treeline, throwing up grass and dirt as he slid to a stop.

"Bumblebee! There's no need for the dramatics." His voice was so commanding. She had, of course, seen his picture before, but was not expecting the glory of him.

And she cried. The hot tears of an emotional mess.

"Erica?" Glide leaned down, worried for his patient. "Does it hurt? Are you ok?"

She waved her hand at him, brushing him off.

"I-i'm fi-ine," she managed to push out through sobs. Bee stood up walked her way, making concerned clicking noises.

"What's with the girl?" Optimus had reached the entrance to the cave, joined by both Crank and Blaster.

"Females," Blaster stated, shaking his head. He retreated to a nearby rock and slowly settled down.

"Hello, Optimus. She has had an injury and I am unsure what is upsetting her. She had not complained of great pain, so I do not think it to be that." Optimus looked over at the concerned medic.

"I don't believe I know you. State your name, solider."

Glide straightened, "Glide, medical officer. Well, training medical officer. The war was over before I could complete training."

Optimus nodded. "Good. We've been in need of a medic since Rachet died. Bee, have we lost anyone since I was gone?"

Bee began to shake his head before pausing and holding up one finger. "Brains," Bee said, sounding like some sort of weird zombie.

Optimus paused, confusion obvious in his body language. "Who?"

Crank sighed with frustration. "That damn little one. Completely annoying. Lost his leg in the battle of Chicago and didn't last long in the states. He either annoyed someone enough to shoot him or got taken by some sort of weird critter. Don't know, don't really care."

Meanwhile, Erica's sobs continued to wrack her body. Glide knew of no immediate threat to her physical health and was searching for a cause. He could only find some sort of emotional trauma and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Now, what is this human's name?" Optimus asked, the excitement of his arrival finally starting to die down.

"Erica-"

"Her name is Erica and damn is she loud! Trompin' through the trees and screechin' breakin' all her fragile parts. And now the crazy thing is makin' all that noise and leakin' water and shit. Humans are annoyin'." Blaster cut Glider off, irritated with her.

"Blaster! Hush up! Poor girl got something wrong with her." Crank was also mildly irritated with the girl, but had spent more time with the humans and was used to the odd emotions that came from them.

She tried to control her breathing. The need to cry had passed and she knew she had to calm down to explain herself.

"Are you going to be ok?" Glide was still concerned. He did a quick body scan and found nothing wrong other than her ankle and her head. "Your head! Ah! I need to check that and re-bandage that."

Erica's breathing had finally calmed down. "Yes, thank you Glide. That will be much appreciated. Now, about my outburst: I apologize. Just, seeing you Mr. Prime. Wow, what an honor. I...I haven't been completely honest about what I know about transformers. It's still a shock to see you in person, but I have a bit more knowledge than the average person. When I was 18, on my 18th birthday actually, I joined the Marine Corps. I served for a few years, moving up whenever I could. About a year before the battle of Chicago, I was offered a position on the N.E.S.T. team. I was honored and of course immediately accepted. I was going to be part of a new division so we were going to have more extensive training than most. We were to train off field for one year and train on field for another. During our training, we were told little about actual transformers and were shown very few pictures. Of course, we watched the news and all did research on our own to try and see what you looked like, but that's nothing like being in the presence of an Autobot. About three months before our off field training was to be completed, N.E.S.T was eliminated and of course shortly after followed the battle of Chicago. When N.E.S.T. was disbanded, our particular training team was lost in the shuffle. We varied from all branches of the military and a few were brought back in, but the majority of us were jobless. Most went home to their families or immediately found new work, but there were a few of us unlucky ones who had no family to fall back on. I moved to Washington shortly after to try and find work at Boeing or Microsoft but neither were hiring within my work experience. I got a job at a local Target and managed to float from roommate to roommate. About a year ago I lost my job because multiple employee's didn't like my military background and got me fired. Ever since then I've been living in my car, hoping for something good to come my way. No job will hire me because of my Target incident and I was too qualified for any sort of government benefits. This part of the state isn't very accommodating to vets. So here I am, standing with the beings who I had planned on dedicating my life to. It's just...overwhelming."

Silence.

No one knew what to say.

"I...I'm sorry, Erica. Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Glide had taken a liking to her and was uncomfortable seeing her upset. He had just finished wrapping her head back up.

"It's not that big of a deal. I just lost my head for a moment there. This whole incident has been kind of shocking for me. I mean, I came up the mountain to find a place to build a shack. My car is back at the trail-head, full of cans and other things I've been collecting for the winter. I have just enough gas to get back down the mountain if I have to, but I was hoping to find a good place to drive or push my car to. I know it sounds crazy because the weather up here is bad, but there's no where else I would feel safe. This county is populated enough were the only place I'm welcome is the Walmart parking lot, and even then they don't like permanent parkers. I've just been trying to live the rest of my days in peace. And now, you're here and I don't know what my future holds."

Crank grunted. "I know what it's like to lose hope. After the war, there wasn't much left for me save museums and car collectors."

Optimus stood tall. "Well, now we might need your help." He walked forward, kneeling towards her. "My former human contacts might not be able to help me. We need to warn this planet."

Blaster stood, finally interested. "Yeah, Galvatron is going to attack! We have to figure out a way to get rid of the soul-less bastard."

Optimus turned, surprised. "Galvatron. I had forgotten that he was still here on Earth. I was not speaking of him, but of the Creators."

Crank gasped and instantly transformed, shaking. An old Willys MB, he was tattered and bullet ridden. Bee cocked his head, interested. "What you sayin, boss?" His voice cracked and pixelated.

Optimus turned, speaking to everyone present. "Lockdown was trying to destroy me on order of the Creators. When I met with them, only seven of their twelve thrones were full. There were five missing Creators. Something is not right in the universe. They were not unhappy with me because of who I was. They wanted to destroy me because I had upset their balance. Earth should not still exist. I managed to escape before they came after me, but I am afraid they will follow me to Earth and finish what they think must happen. I was told by one of the lost Creator's worker drones that I must return to Earth, for that is where I shall find help. I do not know what he speaks of, but I am hoping that I will be able to meet with the other five Creators."

Crank transformed back and sighed. "Well this is mighty complicated."

"You can say that again," Bee muttered.

Optimus sighed heavily, "How I wish our fates were not so intertwined with this planet. They do not care for us here."

Erica shook her head. "You're wrong. Ever since the battle of Hong Kong, they've been trying to find you. And I don't think they have anger or revenge in mind. I think the world knows that this threat is beyond silly politics or the stupidity of man." She shifted, moving some weight off of her foot.

"Well for now, we must connect with the others. Where have they been hiding?"

"They've been hiding out in northern Nevada. We weren't sure if you had gotten our adjustment to the land coordinates so we split up. I've been sending a signal to Crosshairs to let him know you have landed and just received a signal back. They're on their way."

"I hope that your planet is ready for this, Erica. This battle will take all of us working together to save both of our species."

Optimus looked to the sky as silence fell on the group.


End file.
